The Agreement (Darkest Lies Trilogy Book 1) by Bethany-Kris (motivational books for men .TXT) 📕

in that glazed daze anymore—life didn’t have the same bright, shiny appeal that came with a medically-induced happiness—and that was what made her run out of there like she had caught on fire.

“Seems we keep running into each other like this, huh?”

The deep velvety voice came out of nowhere. Karine gasped into the darkness, instinct making her hand fly up to her throat even though her racing heart dared to slow down at the same time. She knew who it was before she even turned to look.

She couldn’t forget that voice.

Roman.

The handsome stranger with those striking soul-blue eyes. She had no idea he was supposed to be at the engagement announcement tonight. Either way, he had missed the announcement if he had been outside.

“Or maybe it’s not an accident at all,” he added as she turned to see the handsome grin curving at the edges of his gorgeous mouth. Something about the sight of his pleasure at seeing her made Karine’s stomach do the strangest things. Dangerous things. “Maybe one of us is spying on the other.”

With hands thrust deep into the pockets of his slacks, he had his head tilted to the side as he studied her. Waiting for her reply.

Karine was surprised to find she had to remind herself to actually speak. “Well, if one of us is the spy, it has to be you.”

His smile grew wider, clearly amused at her answer, and he took a few steps towards her. Careful steps, she noticed. And with the way he kept his head cocked to the side like that, she thought he seemed ... wary of himself.

Or maybe her.

What was she going to do?

Bite him?

“You look like you don’t know what to do with yourself,” he noted.

Karine swallowed hard, replying only, “I rarely do.”

He inched closer still.

She eyed him up and down, wondering what he might do when he finally reached her. A part of her welcomed the idea—good or bad. At this point, what did Karine really have to fucking lose?

Then, he said, “You’re getting wet, babe.”

The endearment came easily.

Slipped out fast, too.

And yet, the wave of emotions that crashed into Karine told the truth. She absorbed the impact of his concern wrapped in a pretty package all too well. It made her body ache with desire—for a man who looked at her like he did right then, and cared. Urgency followed fast behind, ready to remind her of reality. It was the panic that really clawed at her, though.

Deep.

And entirely unforgiving.

The same desperate need to escape that had sent her running from the party slammed into her all over again. Before Karine understood the implications of her actions, she lunged at him.

Roman worked at lightning speed to catch her. She fell on his chest as his muscular arms wrapped around her like a cage, the hardness of his lines somehow feeling soft to her the tighter he held her. For a second, everything was ... quiet.

Different.

Better.

She didn’t care what he thought of her—the spectacle she made of herself was just one of many that made up her life. It was the fact that this man was the one person who showed up in her sheltered circle that offered her something no one else did. An opportunity she could use. Tonight, she just needed to forget. He might well be able to help her do exactly that.

But that wasn’t even the strangest part. Rain continued to drizzle, the warm droplets sliding over Karine’s eyelashes and falling on her cheeks. He stared at her with a look that said he expected this—her in his arms, that was.

How?

Their gazes met, his holding hers strong even though a voice in the back of her mind hissed for her to look away. She didn’t really want to. There was something enthralling about the way he watched her, how his stare swept down to her mouth when her tongue peeked out to lick away the raindrops from her lips, and then jumped back up to her eyes when she blinked away the droplets from her lashes.

He drank her in.

Held her safe.

And she craved that.

More than he knew.

“You’re incredibly ... beautiful, Karine,” he murmured, the edge to his voice making her shiver when he added quickly, “I wanted to say something else, but it didn’t feel like enough. Hot wasn’t enough. Beautiful isn’t that impressive, but it’s better. More fitting.”

She blinked again, still silent.

Not because she didn’t want to speak, though. Oh, She did. Karine just didn’t know what to say.

Usually, a compliment like that would make her self-conscious. Maybe because she had never believed it, not if it came from a man. For one, there weren’t very many men who were in a position to say that to her in the first place. Not unless they wanted to answer for it, too. It was yet another reminder that Roman wasn’t quite the same as the men who surrounded her constantly. Something made him different, and she almost wanted to know what. And perhaps even why.

So, Karine, on the flipside of the same coin, left her surprised by her own body’s reaction to Roman, she also wasn’t shocked at all. She was accustomed to curling away, to feeling frightened and small in the view of others. Not with him. Instead, there was something about the way that he looked at her—it made her hold her head up higher, and stare back unashamed. She straightened her shoulders, daring him to keep looking.

She liked it.

And his words.

Returning the compliment to him in kind would be too much. Karine didn’t know how to formulate the words needed to thank him, let alone the ones to say how she perceived him. Either way, the fact that she didn’t pull away, and instead let her fingertips dance over the broadness of his chest, seemed to be enough for him because he leaned into her.

Impossibly closer.

Just like she wanted him.

Their hips grazed, and she pushed herself further into him, his grip on her loosening just enough to let her